Change of Destiny
by Kate Maxwell
Summary: Based after the movie, something terrible happens and destiny is changed. But for better or worse? FullMetal Alchemist crossover. HIATUS - SEE PROFILE.
1. Chapter 1

Change of Destiny

Chapter One

"As you can see from behind me, the Thunderbirds are helping clean up after the chaose of the villian, known as the Hood's attack on the Bank of London" Lisa Lowe reported over the noise of the VTOL engines of Thunderbird Two flying over the Thames retrieving Thunderbird Four.

"We thank the Thunderbirds once again for rescuing the people that were trapped inside the monorail car, these people have now been sent to the general hospital for check ups but we have had word that noh one has been hurt" She continued as the cameraman looked around the large park where the large rocket of the Thunderbird fleet waited while the Mole waited aside it.

* * *

"Ok I got Thunderbird Four, I'm coming back around for the Mole" Virgil Tracy reported as he flew his bird noting that she was being a little sluggish. '_Don't worry baby, once we get back to the island you can have two full wash cycles' _He thought as he focused on landing the large green transporter in front of the Mole.

"F-A-B Virg, Scott has finished his checks on Thunderbird One and Gordon has almost completed his checks on 'Three" John replied sounding worn out.

"Ok John, have you been checked over by the paramedics?" Virgil asked concerned about his brother's health.

"It's more likely a clean break Virg! Just need a shower then can see my wounds" John replied.

"Ok Johnny! I'll see you in a minute" Virgil said with a small sigh before going back to landing his bird safely.

* * *

John sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly shaking away the wave of dizziness that ran through his head. '_Must be the adrenline wearing out'_ He thought to himself as he focused on the small laptop set up in front of him.

"Hey, everything ok?" Alan asked John in the shadows of Thunderbird One.

"Hey Al, yeah we're almost done just got to pack up the Mole and get Dad away from the paramedics and we'll be done" John said with a small smile as Scott jumped out of his bird.

"I'll do that, Alan go and help Gordon with Thunderbird Three, Fermat and Tin-Tin are there" Scott said as he wiped some sweat away but made his face more blank from the grime and soot that everyone apart from Alan was covered in.

"Ok Scott though I don't know what I can do, but I can try" Alan said with a small smile and headed off towards the large rocket.

"Thanks Scott he's been here about five times in the last half hour" John said with a tired sigh and went back to working on the computer.

"He's just worried about you John, we all are but for now I have to rescue Dad from the paramedics" Scott said with a small smile and walked off to the group of paramedics near FAB One.

John sighed and hid his eyes in his gloved hand hoping that the headache that had built up would go away soon.

* * *

"Ok Jeff, you're free to go just make sure to take it easy for the next few weeks and you'll be fine" The paramedic told Jeff as he took his gloves off and closed his kit up.

"Thanks I will now I better check on the other members of the team" Jeff said with a smile and got to his feet slowly.

"Right I got to help out at the hospital" The paramedic said with a smile before leaving with his partner towards their ambulance.

"Sir" Scott called as he joined Jeff, Lady Penelope and Parker.

"Scott how are everyone? Things are slowly settling down here" Jeff said with a small smile looking around the gardens.

"Yeah it is with Virgil just picking up the Mole and Gordon is finishing the checks on Thunderbird Three, Alan and the others are there with him" Scott reported and glanced back at Thunderbird One. "John's manning the mobile unit" He carried on locking his hands together behind his back.

"He's tired Scott like the rest of us, how about we head home and relax before clean up" Jeff suggested resting a hand on Scott's shoulder, a soft tired smile on his face.

"Right Dad, I'll prep One for launch and send John over to Two" Scott replied before leaving Jeff and headed back to Thunderbird One.

"Hey Johnny! We're about to wrap up so how about you join Virgil in... John!" Scott started cheerfully before running up to his brother's side.

Taking his gloves off Scott rested his fingers on John's neck and found a faint pulse, "Come on John! Wake up" Scott said shaking John's right shoulder lightly earning a small moan from his brother's unconscious form.

Scott sighed softly before reaching up onto the computer and hit the alarm, calling for help from the rest of the family.

Jeff soon joined them along with Lady Penelope and Virgil. "Scott what's wrong?" Jeff asked as Scott kept close to John.

"I - I don't know Dad! He was fine before I came to find you, I came back here and found him like this" Scott explained quickly keeping his fingers on John's neck to monitor his pulse.

"It's ok Scott, let's get on his side but gently" Jeff said hoping that John would wake up and tell them what was wrong.

"I told him he should have been checked out by the paramedics" Virgil muttered as they slowly got John onto his right side, earning a soft moan.

"Paramedics! Lady Penelope!" Scott exclaimed noticing she was still there watching them take care of their injured family member.

"I'm on it" Lady Penelope replied and hurried off to get the team of paramedics closest to them.

"I don't like this Dad, it's got to be more than his shoulder" Scott said looking at his father before looking back down at John, who was extremely pale under the soot and grime.

"Give me a hand Scott, I want to check his shoulder again now that we got natural light" Virgil said as he started to undo the bandage that held John's left arm close to his chest.

"Ok just got to take it easy" Scott said as he held John still, helping Virgil get the bandage off and felt something sticky tap his hand. "Hold on Virg, what was that?" He asked putting his hand back in the same spot before pulling away to reveal red smears on his palm.

"Blood? This isn't good!" Virgil spoke up as the paramedics arrived and took over for them.

"OK what have we got?" One of the paramedics asked joining Virgil on the ground.

"Have you got some scissors? I need to cut through his uniform to see where he's bleeding from" Virgil said seeing that there was a small ammount of blood on the back of the bandage.

The paramedic dug through his kit and handed the scissors, "Were you near the fire? He's covered in soot and burns" He said noticing that they all were, or at least the older members of the team were.

"We were, thought that he only pulled a muscle or dislocated his shoulder but now I know it's something more serious!" Virgil explained as he began to cut through John's uniform carefully while Scott continued to hold him still.

"How long has he been like this?" The paramedic asked as he helped pull the uniform away slowly from John's shoulder seeing that the edges were burnt around the wounds.

"Not sure I left him alone for just a minute to check on Commander and came back here to find John like this" Scott said looking up at the paramedic.

"Ok let's hope its something simple" The paramedic replied as he opened his kit after nodding at his partner, who ran over to their ambulance.

Virgil gently cut away the uniform and the shirt underneath being careful not to pull at the wound or at the material around the wound's edge. "This isn't good! Something's got to be in there" He spoke clearly as the paramedic helped him clean the wound on.

"We can't do that here... all I can do is dress the wound until we get to the hospital where the doctors can look at it" The paramedic said as his partner arrived with the ambulance, then jumped out and opened the back to retrieve the trolley.

"Ok, whatever is the best thing for our team then it will be ok" Scott said looking up at their commander/father.

As much as it hurt them to hide the fact that they are a family they had to pretend that they were a team no matter what happens when they're around members of the public.

"If it is ok I like to go with him" Jeff spoke up wanting to keep close to his son, the only one he could talk to freely about their mother, who had passed away a long time ago.

"We will have to go now, the sooner we get him to the hospital the better it will be" The paramedic told Jeff as he began to bandage it will be" The paramedic told Jeff as he began to bandage up the wound as best he could until they got to the hospital as his partner arrived with the trolley.

"Ok Virgil go and talk to the police and see if they can free the road to the hospital" Jeff ordered his half shocked middle son.

"Right Sir" Virgil replied jumping up onto his feet and ran off towards the nearest police car.

The paramedics shared a brief glance before continuing their jobs to save this young man. After fitting the oxygen mask on and finished bandaging up John's shoulder, they slowly and gently moved him across onto the trolley then into the back of the ambulance.

"Scott, this is what I want you to do... get the others and the machines back to the base and wait for me to call about any progress with John, and I will keep you informed son, I promise" Jeff said softly as they got up onto their feet.

"Ok Dad I will tell the others, no one is being kept in the dark this time" Scott replied with a small smile before climbing up into Thunderbird One and threw out a black duffle bag, climbing back out after it.

"These are some plain clothes if you need them" He explained as he got to the bottom of the ladder.

"Thanks Scott, I better go... tell the boys I will call them later" Jeff said with a smile before picking up the bag and joined the paramedics at the ambulance.

* * *

"Here Jeff you look like you can use it" Lady Penelope said offering a cup of coffee.

"Thanks Penny, just that its been nearly two hours that John's been in there and yet nothing!" Scott called a little while ago saying that Brains and Kyrano has started the damage assessments on the hangers and the rest of the island" Jeff said quietly accepting the cup of coffee and took a sip of it with a sigh.

"I'm sure everything is going to be fine Jeff, you know John, He's strong like the rest of your family, you'll see" Lady Penelope said with a smile as she moved to sit down on the couch gently.

Jeff sighed and sat down on the couch before sipping his coffee once more. "Hope you're right Penny but I don't know" He said before drinking the rest of the coffee with a grateful sigh, his mind wandering to his second born son.

Lady Penelope glanced over at Jeff and inwardly sighed hoping that she was right and that things would be ok for everyone.

* * *

Virgil sighed as he watched Thunderbird Two enter the cleaning system along with the Mole and Thunderbird Four, he still needed a shower himself but wanted to make sure that his bird had got into the wash safely. He would worry about the Firefly and the main service lift later.

"Hey Virgil, is she ok?" A voice asked before joining Virgil on the rail above Thunderbird Two, steam rising up from the hot water.

"Yeah she's fine, got her washing program altered so that the inside gets washed out too but she'll need to have a polish later" Virgil replied not looking away from the green Thunderbird below.

"Yeah well 'Three's not much better... going to have to take the damaged booster apart to find out what's wrong with it" Gordon said with a sigh and looked around the hanger whistling under his breaht when he saw the hole in the blast door seperating the hangers.

Virgil looked over at the hole, "I know it was done by the Thunderizer, I'll ask the kids later" He said rising his hand up to push his hair back but halted and looked at the glove seeing the dark stains on them.

"Virg?" Gordon asked quietly and noticed what he was looking at, "Aw man, come on bro! Time to hit the showers" He said resting his hand on Virgil's arm.

"Y-yeah you're right.. let's go" Virgil muttered and led the way back to the main lifts that came out in the study/office.

* * *

Scott sighed and stretched up out of the chair, the once silver uniform top tied around his waist revealing the dark blue shirt underneath.

"Coffee Scott?" Onaha asked seeing the eldest son stretch up and looked worn out.

"No thanks, think I'll head off for a quick shower before coming back here" Scott replied with a tired smile.

"Ok just take your time Scott, I'm sure that Jeff will call as soon as he knows anything" Onaha said softly with a smile before leaving the office.

Scott sighed and looked at his soot covered uniform before coming back here" Scott replied with a tired smile.

"Ok just take your time Scott, I'm sure that Jeff will call as soon as he knows anything" Onaha said softly with a smile before leaving the office.

Scott sighed and looked at his soot covered uniform before leaving the office.

'_Please let us get through this, please help us Mom' _Scott thought in a silent pray as he climbed up the ramp towards his room, not noticing the noise of the glass clean up in the lounge or Gordon and Virgil following him up to the bedrooms.

* * *

Night had now settled into the British city of London looking out at the view from the window of the waiting room in the largest general hospital, the room's occupants could see the twinkling lights of the capital city.

"Jeff maybe you should eat something" A soft femine voice spoke in the man's ear hoping to break through the train of thoughts that he had been in since their visit from a Doctor Ross.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry Penny.. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell the boys and how John is going to cope when he wakes up" Jeff said as he moved away from the window and sat down on the couch.

"I'm sure that they will be fine and you heard the doctor, what he showed us earlier will work, you saw the plans... " Lady Penelope said not taking her eyes from Jeff, who stared at the sealed box of sandwiches.

Jeff sighed quietly, "What have I done? I started this organisation and we should have been able to protect Thunderbird Five better!" He said and hid his face in his hands.

"Jeff you - yes Parker?" Lady Penelope spoke and noticed her manservant waiting in the doorway.

"Excuse your pardon M'lady, Doctor Ross wants to see Mr Tracy" Parker spoke softly.

"I see let him in Parker" Lady Penelope said and walked over to Jeff, shaking his shoulder slightly. "Jeff, Dr Ross is here" She said hoping to stir him out of his thoughts.

"Right sorry Penny, I'm ok" Jeff said wiping his eyes tiredly before sipping his coffee in hope to perk him up.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything" Doctor Ross spoke clearly as he came into the waiting room. The doctor looked a little bit older than Jeff and wore a dark blue suit with a darker blue tie, he looked a little worn out but was focused entirely on his job.

"No I was trying to get something to eat, how is he?" Jeff asked offering the armchair to the doctor.

"No thank you, just that I'm here to inform you that John did pull through the surgery fine however we won't know the full extent of the addition until he wakes up" Dr Ross said clear by noticing how worn out and distracted the leader of the team was. '_Wonder what he has been through along with the rest of his team' _He thought to himself.

"Is it possible to see him?" Jeff asked getting up onto his feet wanting to see his soon, wanting to try and keep calm but at the same time remain cool and act like the leader of the team. '_Wish that we didn't have to keep this secret but we have to_' He thought to himself.

"It is though I do have to warn you that he will be out of it due to the massive trama he has been through" Dr Ross warned Jeff.

"I know but I can see him right?" Jeff asked again.

"Sure it's this way and I do have some paperwork but that can wait until you're ready" Dr Ross said leading the way out of the waiting room and towards the intensive care unit, where the young man was recovering from the surgery.

* * *

Looking into the private room Jeff could make out his son amongst the monitors and the bandages that were wrapt around some of the burn wounds on his right arm while his left looked real enough from a distance but Jeff could tell that it wasn't real.

'_Oh John... I wonder how you would react when you wake up_' Jeff thought to himself.

"Have you got the files I asked for? I would like to take a look at them" Jeff requested not taking his eyes from his son as the monitors continued to beep softly.

"They are in my office along with the other paperwork" Dr Ross said softly with a look down the corridor.

Jeff inwardly sighed, "Let's go, the sooner the paperwork is done, the better" He said knowing that they had to talk about something and it included their true identity.

"Ok what about your friend I saw in the waiting room?" Dr Ross asked as they walked along the corridor towards the doctor's office.

"Oh she has gone to find a hotel for the night, I won't return to base tonight" Jeff said thinking that he will call the island on the first chance he got.

* * *

"I didn't realise how much glass there was in here" Tin-Tin said to Fermat.

"Me n-neither Tin-Tin, w-where is A-Alan?" Fermat asked as he emptied the dustpan into the metal bin while Tin-Tin continued to sweep up the broken glass from the battle Lady Penelope and Parker had against the Hood and his minions.

"He's with Gordon, he said that he needed to talk to him about something" Tin-Tin said as she moved the pile into a smaller pile for Fermat to sweep up into the dustpan.

Fermat nodded and swept up the glass continued their job of cleaning up the main villa. "Has there been any news from Mr Tracy?" He asked quietly without stuttering once.

"I don't know, Mom said that they're all exhausted... must have been bad up there" Tin-Tin spoke just as softly and leaned against the broom slightly looking out over the pools at the distant ocean.

'_Everything looks so peaceful but not here... everyone is just tired and lost in their minds with clouded hearts_' She thought to herself with an inward sigh before moving out onto the sundeck to start sweeping the glass there.

* * *

After filling the necessary paperwork and forms along with the promise of strict confidenciality from the doctor, Jeff returned to the private room where his son John was recovering from the surgery on his shoulder.

Quietly entering the room Jeff was welcomed by the sounds of the machines and the light breathing of his second born son. Sighing softly he sat down on the chair next to John's bed and took his hand into his own careful not to knock the I.V.

'_The piece of metal we found has torn through the muscles in his shoulder and his bones in the upper arm have broken in several arms, instead of replacing his shoulder and putting his arm in a cast I have discussed with my time, and we came up with a possible solution to this problem_' Dr Ross's voice echoed in Jeff's mind.

'_We need your permission to attempt to replace his arm with a new one, an artificial arm but he will require to be moved to a special clinic once he recovers from the surgery_' The voice echoed again in his mind.

Jeff shook his head and looked over at John's left arm shinning slightly at the fake rubber like skin that protected the arm, '_What are we going to do... how are we going to cope?_' Jeff thought to himself looking at his sleeping son, who moaned and moved slightly in his sleep.

"John" Jeff spoke softly and waited for a form of response, earning a small squeeze to his hand. Jeff smiled soflty, "You're save son, we're in a hospital and your brothers are save and sound at home" He spoke softly looking up at his son's face and found a pair of tired, dull blue eyes looking back at him.

"Go back to sleep John, you need to rest... we'll talk later once you've rested" Jeff said softly earning a small nod and a soft sigh before John fell back to sleep in aware of the surgery he was recovering from.

"You need to sleep too" A soft voice spoke softly from the doorway before coming into the small room.

Jeff sighed, "I know Penny but I can't leave him here not like this... we almost lost him" He said quietly freeing his hand before standing up from the chair and retrieved the brown file from the table.

"I know Jeff but you need to rest, a shower and some food before you collapse" Lady Penelope said with the same quiet but stern tone.

"Ok Penny, I'll go and find a hotel and have a shower before calling the boys as I know they won't rest until they know how John is... but how do I tell them?" Jeff asked as they left the private room and walked down the hall.

"You just tell them that John is going to be fine and the truth, worry about their reactions when they react" Lady Penelope said as Parker called for the elevator.

Jeff sighed and tucked the file tighter under his arm as the elevator arrived, "You're right Penny, thanks for all the help today" He said with a smile as the elevator doors opened with a small ping.

"Think nothing of it Jeff and don't worry about the hotel, it has been taken care of" Lady Penelope said with a soft smile and entered the elevator.

"I'll take you to your hotel Mr Tracy" Parker spoke up once they were in the elevator and started their journey down to the ground floor.

* * *

"Smells great Onaha" Virgil said with a smile, sitting down at the table along with Alan and Gordon.

"Thanks Virgil, do you know where Scott is?" Onaha asked as she put the large bowl of mixed salad down in the center of the table while Kyrano put the jug of homemade lemonade down.

"I think he's still in his room but I'm not sure" Virgil said with a slight frown as he helped himself to a glass of lemonade.

"Maybe one of us should check on him" Gordon suggested before eating his fries.

"I'm not going in there!" Alan replied before tucking into his burger looking across at Virgil as Fermat and Tin-Tin joined them along with Brains.

"H-hello" Brains spoke tiredly and sat down at the table.

"Hey Brains are you ok? You look worn out" Virgil asked concerned for their family friend and inventor behind the Thunderbirds.

"I-I'm f-fine Virgil, ju-just been an-an-an going over th-the d-damage r-report for T-thunderbird F-five" Brains replied with a heavy stutter as he was still recovering from their capture then held prisoner in the fridge.

"How bad is she Brains?" Virgil asked wondering how badly damaged the satellite was, they didn't have time to run a full diagnostic as they all focused on keeping themselves alive.

"I-I'ts d-difficult t-to s-say" Brains replied with a soft sigh and silently thanked Kyrano with a smile for the cup of coffee.

"Ok Brains, we'll worry about that later" Virgil said as Scott finally joined them, grabbed his dinner before leaving the room leaving the other family members confused.

Gordon and Alan looked over at the doorway which Scott went through before looking at each other and sighed. "He's probably gone back to the office" Onaha said as she sat down with her own meal with Kyrano following her shortly.

"Waiting for Dad to call.. hope John is ok, thought he would be ok" Alan said softly looking down at the plate pushing the fries around.

"He will Al, just wait as he'll come here with that smile on his face and apologize for making us worry like this" Gordon said with a smile and rested a hand on Alan's shoulder.

Virgil was about to reply when an alarm sounded through the villa causing them all to jump up and run off to the office.

"A rescue now?" Alan asked as they got to the office.

"No its Dad using the private channel" Scott replied as he answered the call. "Dad how is he?" He asked as his brothers joined him.

They could see that their father was still covered in soot and grime, under it he was exhausted. "Hi sons, he was asleep when I left from the sedatives he's been put on" Jeff said with a tired sigh "He's been better I have to say..." He said battling to keep strong for his sons.

Virgil looked at the screen closely and frowned, "What about his shoulder Dad? The paramedic wasn't very happy with that wound" He said leaning onto the back of the chair Scott was sat.

Jeff took a sigh and motion on the camera showed that he moved to sit down, "It was bad boys, it appeared to the surgeon that the piece of metal inside John's wound did some damage" He said battling to remember what Dr Ross had told him.

The boys paled and remained focused on their father's face on the screen, "H-how bad Dad? Has John l-lost his arm?" Virgil asked the questions he didn't want to hear the answers to.

"He did Virgil, the doctor said that he couldn't fix the damage done... so they had to cut his arm off" Jeff replied watching his sons closely and saw Alan followed shortly by Gordon disappear off screen.

Scott gript the edge of the desk tightly Virgil rested a hand on his shoulder, "Is there more Dad?" Scott asked keeping his voice calm but his blue eyes radiated with anger.

"There is Scott, the doctor asked me permission to try a new experimental limb replacement" Jeff replied closing his eyes briefly and a mental image of John, looking pale but asleep unaware of the surgery he had been through.

"Experimental Dad? I got contacts within the medical communities and I haven't heard about that but if it is to help our brother then that's great" Virgil said with a small smile.

"But how will John handle this? After all we have been through and what had happened to him after the satellite was attacked" Scott said softly his own eyes closed trying to figure out how John would react to finding out that he had lost his real arm to be replaced by a fake.

"To tell the truth son I don't know, I can't start to know how he will feel when he wakes up properly without the drugs knocking him out" Jeff said looking at his two older sons. "I'm going back to the hospital but for now I should really have a shower and try to get some sleep" He told his sons.

"Ok Dad we better go too, got a lot of work to do here but right now we're all exhausted" Virgil said and looked off screen for a minute and nodded. "Though don't know how much sleep we are going to get" He added rubbing his forehead slightly.

"Right Virgil, just do your best and I will call you when I know more" Jeff replied with a tired smile.

"Ok Dad sleep tight" Scott said and closed the channel before locking the computer then spun around to face Virgil. "My room in a hour, think we're going to need a talk over this" He said softly seeing that Gordon and Alan had left the room.

"Ok Scott, I'll go and find Gordon and Alan while you get the ice" Virgil said with a small smile before leaving the office to find their missing siblings.

Scott sighed and looked across at the large murial of all of them, he looked at John's relaxed pose before rubbing his eyes tiredly rose up off the chair and left the office.

* * *

Jeff groaned slightly as he dried himself off heading out of the ensuite bathroom into the bedroom seing the bag of clothes that Scott had given him.

_That's good that we've roughly the same size_ He thought to himself looking at the once silver uniform now covered in soot, grime and a few small burnt patches.

Changing into some clean clothes Jeff sighed tiredly and crashed onto the bed with a painful groan, he rubbed his eyes tiredly before looking at the bare ceiling listening to the traffic passby outside.

_Lucille I wish you were with us now, please watch over John and help him get through this _Jeff silently prayed to his deceased wife hoping that she could help guide her son from the heavens above.

* * *

The traffic travelled smoothly through the crowded streets of London with its people rushing off to their workplace, their newspapers covering yesterdays adventures with the Thunderbirds and the Hood's arrest.

The large hospital, St Thomas acted no differently with the constant hustle and bustle of many wards and emergency units continuing their ongoing duties of helping people back on their feet any way that they can.

A churpy young nurse walked along the corridor in the middle of the private rooms that held a few patients that were recovering from various surgeries, she could hear voices from a few early visitors or doctors checking on their patients.

A middle aged doctor stepped out of the private room filing on a clipboard, reaching behind him to close the door quietly. "Morning Dr Ross" The nurse spoke cheerfully freeing a form from her own clipboard.

"Morning Nurse Lane, cheery as alwasy I see" Dr Ross replied with a small smile.

"Well someone has to be around here" Nurse Land said walking towards the door and peeked through the window to see the young man asleep in his bed. "He's so young" She spoke softly with her hand hesistating above the door handle.

"He is and he has been through a rough patch but things should get better from now on, he should be waking up shortly" Dr Ross said just as softly as he continued his paperwork on the clipboard before his beeper went off. "Here I go again, I'll see you later Nurse Lane" Dr Ross said with a sigh and walked away getting his beeper as he did so.

Nurse Lane sighed softly and entered the room quietly seeing the young man was still fast asleep like Dr Ross had said, she checked his board at the bottom of the bed and saw he was recovering from burns to his back and extensive surgery to his left shoulder and arm.

Placing a meal order onto the bedside table before leaving, she glanced back at the sleeping young man. Nurse Land could see that he was slowly starting to wake up from the sedatives that was written on the information board up on the end of his bed.

Sighing softly Nurse Lane left the room and closed the door softly and walked down the corridor, delivering and checking on the patients as she did so.

* * *

Jeff sighed as he flipped through the newspaper not really paying any attention to its contents as he sipped his fifth coffee since he had breakfast at the hotel, glancing at his watch seeing that it was almost time for visiting hours.

Folding up the paper, tucking it under his arm and left the Starbucks cafe wondering how John would react to how his left arm was now a fake. A complex mechanical arm covered in a flexible skin attached to the shoulder joint, a whole left arm attached to the chest.

_And all because of a tiny piece of metal tore through the muscle in his shoulder, and the force of the impact of the Hood's missle broke his arm in several places_ Jeff thought to himself as he walked along the street towards the hospital wondering if John would wake up from the sedatives when he got there.

* * *

Coughing harshly John slowly woke up feeling slightly numb along his arms and felt cold oxygen flowing against his face, taking slow deep breaths passed a dry raw throat he waited for his vision to clear up to try and get some sense of where he was.

John tried to remember what had happened but all he could remember was playing chess online before performing the checks for any disasters that would require the assistance of the rescue organisation then blank. He groaned and coughed slightly before flexing his hands and froze feeling something strange about his left arm.

Instead of feeling warm and like his own skin it felt different, alien and not sure what had happened to make his left arm and hand to feel like this. John could feel the I.V in his right arm and hear what he guessed was the heart monitor and the oxygen machine providing the cold dry oxygen.

Sitting up a little John winced at the movement of his chest and arm he couldn't get over how it wierd it felt to him and looking at it looked wrong compared to his other arm.

"So you're awake, how are you feeling?" A doctor spoke softly from the doorway coming into the room closing the door behind him.

John used his right hand to move the oxygen mask away from his face and licked his dry lips slowly, "H-how... what happened?" He asked with a slight croak feeling his throat was sore as he spoke.

"I'm Dr Ross and you have suffered from severe limb damage to your left arm, and unfortunately we could not save your arm" Dr Ross introduced himself as he walked forward and looked over his young patient, who stared at him keeping his arm still.

"We have been able to fit a new experimental arm which you can see and more likely feel is different to your right arm, but I am sure that over time you will get use to this" The doctor continued to as he touched John's left arm.

John's eyes went wide when he realized that he could feel the doctor's touch but couldn't feel any veins or muscles like he could when the doctor moved around the bed and checked the I.V.

"Your commander is it? He has all of the information about your arm's functions and how to care for it, but I will recommend that once you are released from my care that you check into a clinic" Dr Ross continued to explain as he checked the monitors and made notes on his clipboard.

"I'll leave you now to rest, I believe that you will have a visitor once visting hours start." Dr Ross added before leaving the room.

John slowly flexed his left hand and brought it up to his face before moving it across to his right arm, and gasped a little when he saw the obvious skin colour difference. Even though John was the most pale out of the family, most of the time because he always got sunburn badly but it was still a shock to see his left arm a little less pink than the right arm.

_What am I going to do?_ John thought to himself as he flexed both hands feeling the difference before sighing deeply and leaned deeper into the pillows.

* * *

Scott walked around the kitchen with his eyes half closed making coffee while waiting for the toast to pop up, he saw Virgil in the same state he was in, leaning against the table in the dining room.

There was no sign of Alan or Gordon but it was still a little early, he thought over their talk in the lounge last night and the emotions and thoughts that were exposed.

Scott heard the toaster pop up as he put the new filter in the coffee machine, he walked about the kitchen to get a plate and butter for his toast while the coffee maker got to work in making the hot bitter drink.

Brains wandered into the dining room and found a dozing Virgil at the table before entering the kitchen finding Scott walking aorund full of sleep. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and cooked toast ws filling the air.

The young genius shrugged at the actions of the two Tracy sons before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and returned to his own chalet he shared with his son. _Must still be tired from yesterday's events _He thought to himself with a small sigh.

_Just hope things will get better once we're all reunited back here on the island, but that won't be for a few months unfortunately_ Brains thought as he stepped out onto the sundeck and looked at the view of the peaceful tropical jungle, he hoped that he was right and that the Tracy family would return to the joyful, energetic family he once knew.

* * *

Jeff checked into the nurse receptionist checking for any updates on his son, keeping the cover story of being injured out on a rescue before joining the other team members on the rescue at London's millenium gardens.

The nurse had told Jeff that the doctor had visited John and completed the checks and told him which room John could be found, this was where Jeff was now.

The thoughts of any reactions or emotions of his son kept running through his mind until Jeff closed his eyes and with great effort, pushed all the mumbled thoughts to the back of his mind before turning the door handle to enter the room but was unprepared to what Jeff saw.

John was curled up on his right side hugging himself tightly with his face half burried into the pillows, his skinlooked deathly white in the poor light while his body continued to shake with muffled tears.

Stepping into the room quietly Jeff moved into the room and felt something tap his foot as he walked over to the bed. As he looked down Jeff saw a screwed up piece of paper and bent down to retrieve it, and inwardly sighed as he went back to close the door softly in an attempt to give them some privacy.

"John" Jeff spoke softly as he walked back over to the bed, where John was curled up crying silently. "Son, talk to me please" He said quietly putting the paperball on the bedside table and bent down to try and find John's face.

"D...dad" John croaked pulling his face out from under the sheets and pillow, his cheeks and eyes were red and puffy from the spent tears with his blue eyes sparkling from a few unspent tears.

"How are you feeling? I'm glad to see you awake" Jeff said with a smile and sat down on the chair next to the bed with a inward sigh, seeing John move away to keep Jeff away from him.

John shrugged slightly before gasping at the feeling the movement in his left arm and shoulder and hid under the blankets feeling ashamed that his had happened to him, making him feel alien and unsure of himself.

Jeff sighed and moved the blankets away to find John had hid his face into the pillow, his body shaking with stiffled tears. "John, it'll be ok! We'll get through this together as a family" He said quietly and rested a hand on John's back seeing the covered joints and stitches on his left shoulder, they would scar but no one would see them if John kept them covered.

John turned his head partly out of the pillows and looked at his father, his blurred vision looked at his father's stern but kind eyes. "I... I don't know how to Dad, he... he did this to me to get at you... at the family" He croaked, his eyes shinning with unshed tears.

"John it'll be ok" Jeff repeated helping John sit up.

"B-but how Dad? Look at me! I'm a freak now! I can't do anything with my left arm because it doesn't feel like my arm!" John croaked a little louder as he leaned against the pillows ignoring the tears that trailed down his flushed cheeks.

_Oh John _Jeff thought as John coughed harshly, Jeff jumped up to get his son a drink of water. "You've got to take it easy John, you still got burns healing on your back and arm" Jeff reminded John as helped his son take a drink to sooth his throat.

"Nothing matters anymore, he won... can't do this anymore" John replied once he pushed the cup away and led down into the bed staring blankly at the ceiling inwardly cringed at feeling his left arm twinge slightly.

"John I can't believe that I'm hearing this especially from you, Scott maybe or Gordon but not you. The Hood hasn't won anything!" Jeff said fighting against his own fears of loosing a son. "He hasn't won! He's in prison where he will stay and I know she's beaten up but we will get Thunderbird Five built back up but better than before, we will go home and everything will be fine" He continued and looked at his son, who was watching him with shinning blue eyes.

"H-how? Things will never be the same, not now not ever... not surprised that you want me to leave" John replied turning away from his father, putting his back to him letting the tears come freely and travel down his cheeks into the pillows.

"John we won't give up and we will all help you get through this together" Jeff said resting a hand on John's shoulder, forgetting about it and the file he had read the previous night.

"Don't touch me!" John screamed and rolled off the bed, tugging at the I.V but luckily it didn't tear out. He crashed onto the floor and hugged himself up tightly into a ball with one of the walls at his back.

Jeff couldn't believe how John was acting, he could see fear in his son's eyes but what surprised Jeff more was John scratching at his left arm like something was irritating his skin. Before he could walk over to try and sooth his son, Jeff heard footsteps outside of the room before the door bashed open to reveal a pair of nurses. "It's ok, I got it" Jeff said holding his hand out to stop the nurses from coming in.

"We'll wait outside if you need us" One of the nurses said with a look at his colleague and closed the door leaving Jeff to calm John down himself.

"John, son please... you have got to calm down, if they see you like this... I don't want to loose you!" Jeff said as he bent down to John's level, watching his son slowly stop scratching his arm and looked at Jeff.

"D-dad, I'm scared... I-I don't understand..." John croaked looking at the spot where he had been scratching to see silver lines appearing through the tears of the fake skin. He traced the tears with his fingertips feeling the metal coating under the false skin.

"I'll be here for you John, the whole family will be too... just let me help you get through this please" Jeff said with a soft smile reaching his own shining eyes as he slowly crept over to John but reminded himself to stay on John's right side, he was soon sat down next to his lost son.

John looked at his father from the corner of his blurred vision before continuing playing with the edges of the tears pulling at them slightly, making the slits bigger revealing more of the metal plating underneath.

Jeff sighed softly looking up at the bare ceiling before getting up onto his feet with a slight moan and walked across to the bed John had jumped out of. He straightened the sheets and blankets before walking back over to his son, "Let me help you back into bed" Jeff asked holding his hand out.

John looked up at his father and noticed the fear and love in his eyes before nodding holding his right hand out, and shuffled his feet to get ready to lift up from the position he was sat in.

Jeff inwardly sighed seeing John look at him with a lost and fearful look, none of the usual cheer and contagious energy in them. He hadn't seen a look in any of his sons or his own for years, not since they lost their mother, his wife but now the look was back but for a different reason.

"Come on, let's get you back in the bed" Jeff said with a soft smile taking John's hand and pulled his son gently onto his feet, before supporting him till they got to the bed.

"I'm s...sorry Dad... I... I just feel l-lost" John croaked as he slid back onto the bed tucking himself into the layer of blankets, playing with the I.V in the back of his right hand.

"It'll be ok John, I know things wil never be the same but thats because we now have a opportunity to upgrade the security system just the way you told me" Jeff said tugging the blankets up to help cover his son up, give him more cover than the gown the staff had dressed him in.

"I... I can't" John replied turning away from his father, "I-I can't go back there..." He croaked and coughed harshly, moaning slightly at the feeling of the healing burns throbbing.

"John talk to me please, I read the file they gave me and the doctor told me that once your burns have healed enough, you can be released from their care," Jeff said sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "What happened John? I thought that you could handle this," He asked softly.

"I-I can't use my arm... it.. it's like I forgot how to write with my left hand, or any co-ordination with my right hand. I just feel useless Dad, I don't know how to cope or anything!" John replied softly and doubled up in a harsh cough when he rose his voice.

Jeff stood up and stroaked John's back soothingly until the coughing had subsided, "Then we'll just have to teach you how to write again, it won't be that hard John as Dr Ross said that there are people willing to help" He said as John uncurled himself and straightened out.

"S-sounds l-like a g-good idea Dad" John replied breathless before yawning feeling his body demanding sleep.

"Go to sleep son, I'll be here when you wake up" Jeff spoke softly with a smile.

John nodded and got comfortable on his right side before falling back to sleep, hoping and wishing that things will get better.

* * *

To be continued!!

Don't forget to review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Change of Destiny

Chapter Two

"So I heard that you'll be going home soon, too bad" An elderly man said with a grin looking at the chess board in front of him.

The young man nodded as he studied the board, "Doctor Willis told me that the burns have healed enough while I've learn enough from Nicola that I can go home" He said before making a move and nodded.

The older man frowned as he continued to study the board, "Here I thought you were going to let me win this time" He said with a small smile and sighed, he moved the piece and waited for the two words that ended another game.

"Check mate Edward" The young man replied with a grin leaning back into the plush armchair, the light damp breeze played across his face from an open window nearby.

"Nice play John and I am sad to hear that you'll be going back to your family, and it's just Ed" Edward said with a smile leaning back in his own chair, he wore a think black shirt and casual black trousers. His right hand was formed by some sort of metal, while his left leg was the same.

"I'll miss hearing your stories and the long science talks, but I'll definitely miss these chess matches!" John Tracy replied with a smile.

Since being cleared from the hospital in London, John had moved to a private hospital in the Lake District. It was highly recommended by Doctor Ross, it was from '_Rainbow Circles_' Hospital that the designs and research for the artificial limbs came from.

His family emailed and called him either daily or monthly but only his father, Jeff Tracy, visited him. Jeff checked on how John was handling on learning how to use his left arm after loosing it in the Hood incident.

Edward Elric grinned and coughed harshly before reaching for his drink to sooth his throat, "I want to give you something, it's in my room" He said rising up from the table slowly, letting his legs stretch out until he was standing straight.

"Are you sure you're allowed out of here?" John replied with a smile nodding to a young brunette woman, dressed in a pale blue suit who returned the smile with a soft frown to her grandfather before leading one of the residents out of the room.

"You're not afraid of my granddaughter are you?" Edward asked watching his granddaughter leave the room.

"Even flirting with the others is a little strange for you but it's not every day that we have a Tracy here" He said leaning against the chair slightly, waiting for John to get up. He was happy to see that the young man felt more comfortable in his skin and with his new arm.

"I'm not afraid of Nikki, just of your wife but if you want to get into trouble standing like that then let's go… Dad won't be here till tomorrow anyway" John replied with a slight frown as he rose up on his feet and stretched hearing the soft clanking of his arm as he did so.

"I've told you before about being a Tracy, Ed…" He broke away thinking about the nightmares he once had before talking about them, letting them fade to bad memories.

Ed nodded, "I know John but Nikki does keep telling me about the publicity for the hospital but I'm reminded of Rush Valley, and how Automail is treated like a rich man's toy" He said before shaking his head clear.

"Enough of that though, come on while she's still busy" Ed added with a grin and led the way to the main house, through the reception and out into the main gardens.

The air smelt fresh and renewed thanks to the morning showers, letting the large blooming flowers to feel the life giving water amongst the soil through their roots. Letting more water gather in pools amongst the leaves and petals.

John was always breathtaking in the amount of scents and colour the garden held, the gardeners had designed the garden for everyone to enjoy and use. There were scented plants and herbs, highly scented roses decorating the walkways, which spread the scents further.

"I can't imagine being back on a tropical island after this and visiting those gardens" John said softly as they got to the large three story house.

Ed stepped forward and entered the code to get in, "If they change this again…" He muttered before groaning as the machine denied his code.

John shook his head and moved past Ed entering a different code and the machine accepted it, "Seems that they like changing the codes around but keep it in the same area of coding" He said holding the door open.

"We started this hospital, Al and myself but now that we passed the jobs over to be with our families then its just becoming too much" Ed said softly as he led the way up the stairs to where his exclusive suite was located.

"It's similar for us but with Dad dealing a lot of the main business while going to my brothers for help in special areas they specialize in… he occasionally emails me or called me if something came up but most of the time I'm alone in space" John said following Ed up the stairs.

"I remember reading something about that in your file but I'm glad that you're telling me, you don't have to go back but it is obvious that you… oh no" Ed broke away when they arrived on the right floor and found a older version of his granddaughter.

This woman wore a long dark green skirt with a light green shirt, her hair a messy blonde tied up in a long braid while her light green eyes were flashing with anger.

John flinched and backed away, "Think I'll go and check on my room, and make sure that I got everything!" He said with a grin and dived back to the stairs.

"Coward, Crystal I'm sorry… I didn't want to use it because I don't need it" Ed called after John before turning to face his daughter, she hit him on the head with his metallic walking stick.

* * *

"Well that's everything Dad" John said with a soft sigh as he put the bag down and adjusted the dark gloves he was wearing, even though he had been out in public without any protection but in typical Scottish tradition it had started to rain during breakfast that morning and hasn't stopped since.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back John?" Jeff asked looking at his son carefully; he could see that his son had improved a lot in the past five months, recovering not only from being held captive in the satellite along with his family but from loosing his arm.

"As ready as I can be, just wonder how will my brothers will react to when they see me… all of me" John said looking down at his left glove, at the gap between his jacket and glove seeing the metal of his artificial arm shining through.

"If they truly love you as a brother then they will truly accept you John, that is what family is for" A voice close by said.

"Ed, where's Alphonse?" John asked with a smile on his face crossing over to the oldest founder seeing that he was using the walking stick today.

"He went on that coach trip with Nicola and Crystal today so a couple of the agency nurses are here but the other residents know better than they do" Ed replied with a grin and held out the bag around his left hand.

"Al wanted to give you this, got something special in there too… might keep you busy for a while" He said with a smile.

John took the bag and peered inside seeing two thick books inside, "Alphonse was always better at telling stories than you" He said pulling out the novel, '_The Search for the Philosopher's Stone by Alphonse and Edward Elric'._

"Yeah well I went into politics briefly while he became an author, then well you know the rest" Ed explained with a shrug.

"Yeah I know, but I better go… Dad's waiting for me" John said glancing back at his father with a smile, who was leaning against the rental car.

Ed smiled and nodded, "I can see that, the nurse said that I should get in soon because of this mist as it won't do any of my joints any good" He said glancing back seeing a nurse dressed in black trousers and a light purple tunic glance at him before carrying on with her job.

John nodded and pulled his own jacket up tighter around his neck, "Won't do any of us any good" He said with a shrug pushing his dampening hair away from his face, he had let it grow our becoming longer and a little unruly.

"Then I better let you go, you will stay in contact with me won't you?" Ed asked with a soft sigh and slight smile leaning on his stick.

"Of course, I'll email you once we get back safely to the island" John replied with a smile and looked at his father, who had placed a hand on his right arm.

"That's great John but for now you're released from our captivity unless you don't look after yourself" Ed replied with a grin, "For now we have to say well… see you later!" He added holding out his right hand.

John shook it grinning, "Yeah, I'll see you later" He said and once he let go, he followed his father to the car.

* * *

Glasgow International Airport was busy as always, passengers arriving and departing every few minutes making the busy airport seem like a miniature city.

It was busier in one terminal; a flight was preparing to fly back to the United States with a plane loading up quickly meanwhile in the main terminal building there was a group of people gathered around two Americans.

"Rangers I can get a last 'Red Dawn'?" The blonde male American yelled over the group of fans, there were a few men while the others were all females of different ages. Some of the fans were dressed in black suits and long red jackets that were close to sweeping the floor.

"RED DAWN" The fan club called the '_Risembool Rangers' _yelled out making the other passengers and family members look around in confusion or thinking that the group were crazy.

Two men were also looking at the fan club and obviously its leader, the younger man was grinning while the older was confused.

"What are they?" He asked the younger man, "They are nuts" He added before turning back to face the airport staff that wanted his attention.

"They're an anime fan club called the Risembool Rangers, their leader is called Vic Mignogna" The younger man explained watching the fan club with interest, tugging his dark gloves on subconsciously.

"I don't even want to know John, but I am almost done with these forms and –"Jeff stopped abruptly when there was another yell but closer to them.

"John! Hey, what are you doing here?" A female voice said calling loudly waving an arm high over her head.

"Rose! I'm heading back home, back to the family" John replied with a grin as the young dark haired woman freed herself from the crowd.

"Are you serious? That's cool; you're going to be missed! But come on you've got to meet Vic before he goes" Rose said in an unusually hyper way, hugging the surprised man before dragging him off into the crowd, the gift from Ed swinging in the bag on his wrist.

"B-but Rose" John protested fighting against the volunteer helper's pull on his right arm.

His protests stopped when Rose stopped in front of a man, who was grinning widely hugging one of the other members of the fan club.

"Vic, this is John! We converted him into a ranger" Rose announced loudly, John could see that Nicola had joined them from somewhere in the crowd.

"Nice to meet you John and welcome to the greatest fandom on the planet" Vic replied with a grin and held out of his right hand.

The man looked so young, yet John could see that he was older than how he acted, with his brown hair spiked up but showing blonde in the light like he had highlights put in. His light blue eyes danced with amusement and excitement in being surrounded by his fan club.

John shook it with his left hand, grateful for the gloves hiding the different between his real arm and his artificial one. "Thanks I think that your work in Full Metal Alchemist was great, as well as your music" He said with a smile, Rose dancing on her toes at his side.

"Thanks I'm glad that you enjoyed them and I'm happy to tell you that I'm bringing out a new CD soon" Vic replied as the fan club broke away into smaller groups.

"Nice to hear that, but I better get back to my father, we're getting ready to go back home" John said letting go of Vic's hand and moved the bag from around his wrist.

"I see, I'm off home myself after spending time with all these great rangers" Vic replied loudly over the groups screams.

John winced at the loudness, "That's great Vic, I'm just glad that I got to meet you but I haven't got anything you can sign unless…" He stopped and opened the bag pulling out one of the books.

Vic raised his eyebrows at the book's title before grinning taking the book and pen, "Well John is it? I hope you enjoy reading this and hope we meet again in the future" He said as he signed the inside cover of the book before giving it back to John.

"Thanks I will" John replied with a smile putting the novel back into the bag before looking over his shoulder towards where his father was. He could see Jeff leaning against the counter looking somewhere between amusement and confusion.

"I better go now, it was nice meeting everyone" John said with a smile taking Vic's offered hand again.

"I know, it was nice to meet you and hope you will have a safe journey" Vic replied with a grin letting go of John's hand to let him go.

* * *

"Thank you control" Jeff replied while John watched from the co-pilot's chair quietly as his father focused on getting the private jet 'Tracy One' into the air.

Soon they were rising up leaving Glasgow Airport far behind them, John watched through the window until they rose up above the dull grey clouds.

"Want to explain to me what that was about in the airport?" Jeff asked as he set the course back to Tracy Island as John undid his seatbelt.

"You wouldn't understand, I can only say that was a star and his fan club to keep it simple" John replied before sighing and stretching.

Jeff could see that over the last few months that his son had recovered from his life changing experience and adjusted to his new arm.

"I see so then I guess while you were away, you were educated on this" He said softly glancing at his son from the corner of his vision, John had changed over the past few months with no signs of the burns he had received through the fires that had engulfed parts of the satellite.

He had healed and Jeff hoped by more ways than just the physical injuries that John had received when the satellite known as Thunderbird Five or his second born son's second home.

"I was, watched the entire animated series, otherwise known as anime and the Elric brothers different stories" John replied with a smile. "The anime missed out so much in the adventures that they had" He said leaning back deeper into the chair and pulled his gloves off to scratch his right hand.

"I'll trust that you know what you are talking about John, so let's just leave it at that" Jeff said smiling softly glancing at his son before focusing on flying the plane.

John smiled then laughed at hearing the hidden tone in his father's voice.

* * *

"Quick! Here he comes, everyone quiet!" Scott told everyone in a hushed tone taking his place behind an armchair close by.

The Tracy family and the members of their extended family; the Belegants and Hackenbackers had hidden all around the room with the setting sun casting the whole area of the main lounge in a bright orange almost fiery red.

Gordon and Alan had spent all day decorating the area ready for their brother's return after spending four months at a special clinic recovering from the traumatic experience of the Hood incident.

But now the Tracy family was now reunited and whole once more, their secret organisation temporarily suspended pending upgrades to the rescue equipment and protection of the Thunderbirds.

They all waited for the sound of Jeff and John Tracy to enter the room, their father was in on the surprise part and was to give them a key word to say when to spring the surprise.

"I guess so Dad, just want something to eat, a shower then get some sleep" John's voice drifted on the wind as they got up onto the sundeck.

"Your brothers will want to welcome you back you know, and they won't leave you alone until they do" Jeff's voice replied as they entered the main lounge.

"You mean they're –"John started to say before jumping back as everyone jumped out, yelling "Surprise" in one loud roar.

"Having a surprise party" He managed to finish before getting caught up in a huge brotherly hug, feeling various pats on his back.

"We couldn't resist Johnny! Four months without you here, I'm surprised the island's still in one piece" Scott said as Virgil pressed a glass into John's hand with a grin.

"We promised Dad to keep off the alcohol even though we're off duty" Virgil told John as they all broke away as Onaha revealed the food on a large table in the middle of the lounge.

John sipped the drink to discover it was homemade lemonade, "This is great! What has been happening here?" He asked as he got led to the table revealing a cake earning a small laugh from him.

The cake resembled Thunderbird Five in all of her shinning glory; it reminded John of how he first saw her on their first day online, their first day as International Rescue.

"Like it John?" Onaha asked with a smile offering a plate to Gordon, who accepted it gratefully before working on filling it up.

"It's great Onaha, it looks really great" John replied with a grin and looked around the room, at his family all around him celebrating his return.

Jeff smiled as he watched John interact with his brothers, grinning at their jokes and pushing his younger siblings away that were trying to get him to wear silly party badges and hats.

It was this interaction that Jeff knew that they were reunited at last; they could now slowly become a proper family they once were and would be again.

* * *

The weeks soon flew by and work begun on the rebuilding of the rescue organisation, each of the boys were studying the original blue prints and the programming of the birds hoping to change the flaws that appeared as they created them.

Scott and Virgil worked together down in the hangers to take apart a few of the engines on Thunderbirds One and Two with Alan helping at different days.

Brains worked around the clock with Jeff and John, designing new parts and safety features or programming and upgrading any current systems.

Weeks just flew by leaving them all exhausted but accomplished with all the work put into their rescue organisation even though they were still waiting on new parts or reassemble the engines. Their home felt save once again with the new upgraded security systems and new alarms to warn them of any trouble.

The sun had set a few hours ago, its fading light disappearing over the sea making the sky turn into a darker blue. The sky was changing slowly as the sun continued its slow path around the planet.

* * *

Moaning and stretching John stared up at his star patterned ceiling before rising up his left hand, flexing it slightly and groaned as he felt the seal near his shoulder. It was this same ache John had felt over the past few weeks, as he was concerned and still in contact with Edward Elric, he emailed his friend for advice.

Edward had replied with a suggestion of using a mixture of warm and cold compresses on his shoulder when the ache started thinking that it could be just the humidity of the jungle affecting him. Even though he himself had never had trouble with it before, yet he never actually lived on a tropical island before.

Getting up out of the bed and stretching with a small groan, John left the room and walked down the slope into the main complex wearing just his shorts.

"- seeing him like that, it's just too weird!" Alan's voice drifted out of the dining room.

"I know Alan, it reminds me of something out of those old science fiction films" Gordon replied as John crept closer to the kitchen.

John could feel his stomach churning uncomfortably as he listened to his brothers' talk about him, the throbbing pain in his shoulder forgotten.

A small thud from the kitchen was heard making John jump, "It's all thanks to that damned Hood's fault" Scott said before a clunk of a glass being placed on the table was heard.

"It was my fault too" Virgil added, "I should have checked his wound better but he's coping! He said standing up for his older brother, making the young man smile softly.

"I know Virg and no one blames you, we were all stressed out up there… not knowing if we were going to survive up there but we did" Gordon spoke softly making John strain to hear him.

"We all changed… but John, he's changed more than all of us!" Alan said loudly.

A small spell of silence filled the room; John could just picture his brothers in his head. They could all be sat around the table either looking at each other or down into their drinks reflecting what had happened over the last few months.

"After what happened out there, up in the satellite was traumatic for him and then loosing his left arm because of our careless actions when we were worried for your safety Alan, I guess that we all have been put into blame" Scott spoke up, breaking the silence.

"I-I guess so Scott but John…" Alan said sounding strained and unsure how to word himself.

"John's what Alan?" Gordon prompted.

John frowned wondering what was going through their youngest brother's mind, a cold sweat had formed on his right palm.

"I understand what you've guys have seen out there or what you have had to deal with but listening to John's stories of the people behind the voices I just can't stand now how John's became one of those people…" Alan said breaking away, anger rising up his voice.

"He's become a freak" He yelled loudly.

* * *

"**He's become a freak!"** Alan's voice rang loudly in John's mind as he looked down at his artificial arm; he had heard this before and had much counselling in how to deal with it.

_They were just strangers, not my own brother _John thought to himself, not realizing that his feet were moving automatically only stopping briefly for a pair of sandals he had left by the pool before running into the jungle.

John continued to run, run away form the echoes of his brothers' conversation, away from Alan's angry yell and away from the truth.

He closed his eyes as angry hot tears formed paying no attention to the path ahead until he gasped painfully then knew nothing.

John had slipped off the path and fallen through the jungle foliage, landing hard on a hidden cave floor hidden by the tropical jungle that formed most of the island.

Into the darkness.

* * *

To be continued!!

-Phew, thanks for being patient for this everyone! And I'm sorry FullMetalWing for taking so long, but it does take a long time to write these sort of fiction. Amongst the others of course - and the new HP book!  
So please everyone, think about the time it takes between updates for long stories such as this before saying 'write more soon'

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Change of Destiny

Chapter Three

The wind blew through the tall lush green grass and the tall trees that lined the large fields and roads, spreading across as far as the eye could see.

There were mountains in the distance with snow crusting their tops, green grass hills could bee seen from the large lone house on the hill.

Painted mainly bright yellow with a white balcony built below the two top windows, from the balcony you could see for miles if you were standing upon it.

With the peace and quietness of this tranquil land, it seemed like a beautiful place to live a nice peaceful live with the years drifting by like the clouds overhead.

Groaning painfully the young man woke up slowly trying not to move, waiting for his body to catch up with his mind after the fall. He waited for his artificial arm before moving to sit up, opening his eyes to find a crescent moon staring down at him.

"Where am I?" John muttered to himself, his voice echoed off the cave walls around him. His eyes adjusted to the gloom of the cave and slowly got up onto his feet flinching at the twinge in his left hand.

Using the moonlight John flexed his hand tiredly, seeing two of his fingers didn't flex with the rest of his hand. "Damn it, going to have to fix that…" He muttered to himself placing his hand into his pocket for now.

John looked around the cave as he walked towards the exit of the cave. He froze near the entrance "I-it can't be!" John gasped seeing some of the writing on the wall in the moonlight, daring not to touch the partial circle painted there.

* * *

"Morning boys" Jeff said as he entered the kitchen, finding four of his sons sat around the kitchen table with coffees in their hands.

"Morning Dad" The boys replied in a low rumble, sounding tired and worn out.

Onaha was busy cooking breakfast with the smell of toast, sausage and egg wafting through into the dining area. Jeff disappeared briefly into the kitchen for his own coffee, before coming back out with a newspaper and coffee.

Settling down at the table, Jeff separated the paper out before sipping on his coffee loosing himself in the news headlines as Scott dug through the rest of the paper.

Things were like every other morning as they helped themselves to the coffee; Onaha soon brought the toast in and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Has anyone seen John?" Onaha asked as she came back in with trays loaded with sausage and bacon.

"Not since last night" Scott replied not looking up from his paper.

Virgil sighed and got up from the table, "I'll go and get him" He said with a soft sigh and disappeared from the dining room.

Alan watched him go but saw Gordon glare at him and shook his head slightly, telling his brother to back off from following Virgil to check on John.

"Something on your mind boys" Jeff asked feeling some tension between his two youngest sons; he put his paper down for a while.

"Nothing Dad" Gordon and Alan said together.

* * *

John stopped working on the back of his hand and took a deep breath to push the pain away from where it rose up onto the back of his neck and down his spine.

He flexed his hand slowly and saw that his fingers responded in the same speed of his other hand.

Sighing softly and rotating his shoulders, John got up from his bed and stretched out his stiff muscles that were still sore from the fall into the cave.

Looking out of his open balcony doors John sighed softly thinking of ad ream he couldn't quite remember, just weird images of big green fields and a lone house on a hill.

_Knock, knock _"John?" Virgil's voice called through the door.

John stopped his stretches and grabbed his long sleeve shirt slipping it on, putting his gloves on as an afterthought. "It's open Virg" He said as he finished doing the buttons up.

"Hey Johnny, breakfast is ready" Virgil said with a grin after letting himself in the room.

"That's great Virg, I'll join you guys in a minute" John replied as he searched the bookshelf for the book he needed.

"Ok I'll tell Dad" Virgil said moving to leave the room, "Um John… I'm sorry for what happened" He said softly unsure how to express his feelings.

"It's ok Virgil, I'm alive and that's all that matters" John replied softly, a thick book tucked under his arm.

Virgil nodded with a soft sigh, "You're right John, besides I'm just glad that you're back" He said with a smile facing his brother his eyes shining with gratitude.

"Thanks Virgil, let's get to breakfast" John said with a smile letting his brother lead the way downstairs.

* * *

That was the first original breakfast for the last few weeks, Jeff and Scott buried in their sections of paper while Virgil read the reports of Thunderbird Two's progress with John lost within his book. Gordon and Alan talked amongst themselves about various things.

But they did not last, the older blond son was up before sunrise and did not return until past evening super. He had talked quietly to Onaha hoping that she would keep his small project a secret and the weeks past with his family getting more suspicious of John's activities and behaviour.

After two weeks of his son missing from meals, Jeff waited up one night waiting for his second born son to reappear.

"Dad" A voice whispered softly breaking Jeff's thoughts, the older man was leaning against the breakfast bar in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in front of him.

"What is it Virgil?" Jeff asked softly.

"I know that you've been worrying about John, I think it's because he overheard us talking one night a few weeks ago… some harsh things were said about him" Virgil said as he sat on the bench close by not looking at his father.

"What sort of things were said Virgil?" Jeff asked as he made another cup of coffee for his son.

Virgil sighed and told his father the conversation they all had, "Then Alan called him a freak Dad, and I feel that it's my fault for not talking to him sooner about this whole thing" He finished explaining remembering how they all had looked at each other before going their separate ways after Alan's outburst.

"I'm not sure what to say Virgil except that I'm shocked and surprised to hear this from my own sons after all we have seen in the organisation" Jeff said containing his emotions barely remembering what state his son was in while in London then flash forward to picking him up from the Rainbow Circles clinic, it was like a part of his son had returned, Jeff knew better though they all had changed from the threat on their lives and he could see that in all of his sons.

"The one thing I can say is that John is coping fairly well with what has happened to all of us, he has changed but then we all have changed" He added softly before sipping his own coffee.

Virgil stirred some sugar into his coffee, "You're right Dad, just wonder what John has been up to… I haven't seen him like this in years" He said before sipping his own coffee.

"I know Virgil, we'll find out soon" Jeff replied looking into his own coffee.

* * *

"So that's a human transmutation circle" John said looking at the image on the screen.

"That's it John but the image you sent me yesterday, Al and myself don't recognize it but Nikki did" Ed replied as papers were heard rustling in the background.

John had locked himself in his room, deep in conversation with Ed and Al Elric going over all of the photos and sketches he had gotten out of the cave.

"It's the gateway between the two worlds, between ours and Amestris" Al added appearing into the camera's view, a book open in his hands.

"What did Nikki say about the pictures?" John asked switching pictures while writing notes down on his sketches.

"What Alphonse said it was, 'a part of the gateway to Amestris', would have thought we would remember putting a piece of the gateway on a tropical island" Ed replied looking back at his brother, who shrugged and disappeared.

"So everything about these transmutation circles is in your books?" John asked glancing at his rucksack that held the thick books.

"That's right, we do have copies of everything we learned about alchemy here in our private library if you're interested" Ed answered John's question before turning around, looking off camera and winced.

"I better go now John, we'll continue this another time" He said with a small smile.

"Oh ok Ed! I better go myself" John replied printing off the pictures Edward had sent over glancing towards his door thinking he heard someone out in the corridor.

"Right John, we'll organize a day when you can come over to collect the books… don't quite trust the mail with these" Ed replied with a grin looked off camera once again before turning back. "Really got to go now, see you later John" He said before the screen went black.

John sighed and locked his computer before retrieving the printouts from the printer, going over them carefully. "Might as well come in" He said loudly and the door opened to reveal his brother, Virgil.

"Hey John, thought you would might like a game of pool or something" Virgil said with a small smile leaning against the doorway.

"Not really Virg, just got a few things to sort out… is Dad back from mainland?" John asked remembering hearing a jet leave the island yesterday.

"Not yet" Virgil replied as he came into the room, "What are you working on? It can't be an astronomy book because we would have noticed" He said walking into his brother's room looking at the scattered papers on the desk.

"Just something I found while walking around the island, I don't want to get you… any of you involved" John said stuffing the papers into a file then got up from his chair, stuffing the file into his rucksack.

"Do you want some help?" Virgil offered noticing that John was wearing a short sleeve shirt, his light jacket and constant gloves that his family saw him in laid out on the bed.

"Not sure that you can" John said glancing behind him to see that Virgil turned away to look at the computer desk, flicking through some of the notes, "Not when you can't even look at me… all of me" John added softly stripping off his shirt to change into something better.

Virgil sighed and looked at his shirtless brother, "John, can I see?" He asked wanting to see his brother fully, since he came back they all had been busy or John wore long sleeve shirts and kept away from the pools.

John slowly pulled away from his chest of drawers and straightened up before turning to face his brother, "I heard the talk you all had one night… when Alan" He stopped and looking down at his hand, flexing it before heading into the bathroom.

Virgil watched his brother looking at his arm seeing the whole arm with a complete shoulder, there were dull red welts from where his skin was going to scar.

"I'm sorry John, I should have tried harder but Alan… he hasn't seen what we have" Virgil said amazed at how John had coped with learning how to cope and care for his arm.

"He's young and scared, we all almost lost our lives and we have changed because of that" Virgil continued as John stretched as he walked back into the room, with a cloth bundle in his hand.

"I have more than any of us, because I made the call after the station was attacked, the nightmares are still there Virgil along with the fear of returning to outer space but I understand that fear and accept it… it was that same fear that I had about this" John said flexing his arm into the sunlight that had crept into the room as the sun travelled around the complex on its daily journey.

"The fear also tried to engulf me about returning here, back amongst my family but now I can see how I have changed over the time I was away, of how the John Tracy everyone knew died in that satellite attack to be replaced by the man who calls himself by that same name standing in front of you now" He continued stuffing the kit into his rucksack before slipping a sleeveless t-shirt on then the light jacket over it.

"John I-I don't know what to say" Virgil whispered leaning against the desk looking away from his brother to the papers, "I know that you're still my brother, a part of our family and nothing will change that… I failed you up in the space station you once called second home" He said softly, his voice a little louder than before.

"I want to make it up to you somehow, so please let me" He stared at his brother, who looked back at him, untold emotions shimmering in their eyes.

John was the first to break eye contact and sighed, "Ok Virg, just get some food from the kitchen and meet me at the sundeck… almost done here" He said lifting up the rucksack onto the desk's chair.

"Ok five minutes John!" Virgil replied with a smile and quickly disappeared from the room, happy that he was going to help his brother.

* * *

"Help me with this sheet" John said after putting the torch down that covered some large rocks.

"Sure but how did you find this place? I thought that we found all of the hidden caves, this is incredible" Virgil said helping John with the thick sheet that he recognized from the stores in Thunderbird Two's hanger.

John worked on switching the big lanterns on to light the cave, "I… ah found it painfully" He said pointing directly above before walking back over to collect his torch.

"Oh I see, good thing the floor is covered in moss… it softened your fall but what is all of this?" Virgil asked picking up one of the lanterns to light up the section of the wall.

"They're calculations and diagrams… mainly they're parts of transmutation circles on that wall" John pointed out and traced part of the large one.

"That one" Virgil asked looking at the large rock.

"It's part of a gateway according to what Ed and Al told me, a gateway to Amestris… they told me that they have books about them but for now I'm just going to look around for the rest of the circle if I can find any of it" John explained moving away from the rock and shone his torch around the cave, at the fallen rocks and boulders.

"Is that what you've been doing down here?" Virgil asked setting the rucksack of food Onaha had gathered for them both down; "Trying to find this circle" He asked looking at the rocks around him.

"It is, you can call me insane if you want to Virg… they're here somewhere and I've got a lot of these translated already" John said pointing at the calculations and notes on the walls.

Virgil studied the notes and grinned, "Ah German! Your weakness" He said shinning the lantern up to read it. "Have you tried translating it?" He asked looking at his brother, the grin still plastered on his face.

"Roughly" John confessed digging out a notepad from his own rucksack and showed it to Virgil, who took it and read it over with a small frown.

John watched as Virgil took the accepted pen and made corrections to the notes, "It's like there were scientists whenever this was originally written, this is like a recipe for something but I can't remember that one word" Virgil said pointing at the corrections.

"We'll have to check it out but whatever is lining the cave doesn't let a signal in or out of this cave…I noticed with my laptop's wireless connection" John said with a soft smile.

"You do realise that Scott will try and find us if we keep hiding here, hiding from accepting the others…" Virgil said quietly checking over his notes.

"I know Virg, but I hate hiding myself around everyone" John said unpacking his rucksack, setting his temporary camp back up ready to get back to work.

"I'll talk to Scott and Gordon, see if they will listen to me" Virgil said giving the pen to John before taking the notepad with him towards the cave mouth.

"Thanks Virgil, I'm going to mainland as soon as Dad gets back… want to go and visit the Elrics, ask them for some books" John said with a small smile.

Virgil nodded and left his brother in the cave, understanding his older brother a little better.

* * *

"So you're the famous Virgil, it's nice to finally meet you after hearing so much about you" Edward said with a grin, the metallic cane in his hand with his brother close behind him on his own two feet.

"Nice to meet you too Edward and you must be Alphonse" Virgil replied with a smile and offered his hand, which Alphonse reached forward and shook.

"It's just Ed and Al, our full names makes us feel older than we look" Al replied releasing Virgil's hand and stepped away.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere else" John offered shivering down into his thick coat as they stood in the entrance of the clinic.

Ed looked back at his brother before looking at their guests and nodded, "Sure we'll go to the library… Al, can you keep Crystal busy please" He asked switching his cane to his other hand, showing Virgil his right hand during the switch.

Al sighed, "Ok Ed but you owe me one" He said before walking off towards one of the rooms.

Ed grinned, "Come on, Nikki's away at the moment so they're short staffed here" He said turning to lead the way to the library.

"How are they?" John asked as he kept up with Ed, along the maze of corridors with Virgil keeping close to them.

Virgil wondered how John had managed to live here without getting lost in this big complex that was a hospital and yet felt warm and homely. _I can see how John had recovered here _He thought watching John talking to Ed as they continued to walk up to the library.

* * *

"I found something, think it's another part" Virgil's voice echoed off the cave walls.

"Then that proves our theory Virg!" John called back from where he was doing a complex puzzle of assembling the parts of the rocks that made up the circle.

Virgil walked over with the large part of the circle written into the rock and showed it to John, "What do you think?" He asked looking at the circle as he put the latest piece in.

"That this is a different gateway, the one Ed and Al mentioned was bigger than this one… much bigger!" John said standing up and ducked himself off as Virgil put the last piece in.

"That's great, so we have discovered a new gateway to Amestris" Virgil replied with a smile as he stood up and shone his torch over the complete circle.

John nodded and stretched up looking at the circle, and frowned. "Virg, shut your torch off a minute" He said moving around to shut the torches off.

Virgil watched his brother then followed his instruction but slipped on something cutting his hand on a sharp rock, "Ah damn it" He cursed.

"Virg what's the matter?" John asked stepping towards his brother and slipped landing on the circle.

Virgil grabbed his brother before the darkness engulfed both of them.

A bright light filled the cave, shooting a bright beam out of the cave openings.

To be continued.


End file.
